What a weekend

wow, it started as just a regular weekend with nothing much planned. A visit from friends and some more unpacking/hanging pictures etc in the new house. Then, out of nowhere some major milestones. Well, at least in my mind.

We fed J some sweet potatoes. this was his first meal that wasn't milk or single grain cereal. I make my own baby food. It's pretty easy and it makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I am doing something healthy for them. You know, no preservatives and all the vitamins aren't cooked out of them. Anyway, N made milk for them for the first several months of their lives and now it's my turn. you know? It feels good. Plus I can give them a much wider variety. K ate Rudabegas before she was one. Look it up. It really is a vegetable. I like to think this is why she is a good eater and willing to try just about anything. The reality is that I am probably just lucky that my kids aren't picky. Well, at least K. I don't know about J, but he seemed to like the sweet potatoes. Later, I will make some carrots and Butternut squash. You have to start slow with these things. You can't just throw Rutabegas and Beets and Turnips at them all at once. So, that was the first milestone. A planned one. pretty neat just the same.

Then, K and J and I were sitting on the couch Saturday night watching little bear before bed. Little bear is K's favorite cartoon, although I think Pooh is catching up. K did something silly and it struck J's funny bone. He started giggling at her. She then started Cheesing it up for him to make him laugh. He got the belly laughs so hard his whole little body was shaking on my lap. This made K laugh too. Not the fake laugh she sometimes gets to make him laugh more, but the genuine can't help yourself laugh. The infectious kind. We aren't talking cocktail party laughs here. No, we are talking the make your face hurt kind. Pretty soon we are all laughing so hard we aren't sure we can stop. We forgot all about the cartoon and just enjoyed each other laughing for the next 5 minutes or so. It was really nice to know our kids genuinely like each other. I thought, man, I hope we can do this often. then, today we were in the car on our way out to get some dinner. N and I were talking a bit and the kids were riding along in the back. K was pointing out her usual shapes as we rode. I see an octagon daddy. Yep, me too, it's red. etc. Then she announces that J is Talking to her, and I can hear J giggling in the back. She starts having this conversation with him and I thought about how nice it was that they are starting to have this relationship between them. It just all of a sudden happened. before, She would ask where he was and she was generally aware of him but that was just about it. Now, suddenly, she is interacting with him on a whole new level. Amazing. And we didn't even have to do anything to prompt it. their capacity for learning and loving is mind numbing. J is absolutely in love with her. He follows her wherever she goes in the room with his eyes. It is so nice to see this happening for them. It's like they are laying this incredible foundation for a partnership that will last them forever. I remember having that kind of bond with my sisters. really cool. We are still close to this day and often reminisce about our times together as kids. Great milestone, not expected.

Then, the 'piece de resistance'. The words you always wanted to hear. You knew the day would come, or at least you hoped the day would come. The words every daddy wants to hear over and over again. Not the words that come after prompting. Not the automatic response to your words. No, you want the out of the blue, totally spontaneous, unsolicited words to come spilling from your childs' mouth...............

So, we are out on the deck on this, the first really beautiful day of spring in 2008. our first day on the deck of our new and wonderful house. We weren't doing much. Just hanging out and enjoying the sunshine. K had helped me plant some raspberry bushes earlier. she is a very good helper and wants to help with everything. I stood up to go inside to get something and K looks up at me and says........"I love you daddy". Nothing more and nothing less. I stood there for a moment and then mustered a pretty choked up "I love you too honey". N looked at me stunned and asked if that was the first time she had done that. It was. I was tearing up as I went into the house for whatever I was after. How sweet is that? Big unexpected milestone. I have been smiling since.

At dinner I couldn't help but wonder as I sat there watching my little family eating their pizza, how could I have gotten so lucky to have such a wonderful life with these great people.